How is dasmahavidya related to the 16 vidyadevi?
In Jain tradition, 16 Vidyādevīs are a distinct group of deities connected with vidyā (knowledge/power). They developed gradually in Jain literature and iconography, and Jain sources describe them as a fixed group of sixteen goddesses. ( jainpedia.org)
The term daśa-mahāvidyā means “ten great vidyās,” but in Jain usage it is not the standard name for a separate, central Jain group. The closest Jain connection is that some Jain texts and descriptions use mahāvidyā language for the Vidyādevīs, and one Jainpedia source notes that Cakreśvarī is counted as the fifth among the 16 mahā-vidyās / vidyā-devīs. ( jainpedia.org)
So, the relationship is mainly this:
- Same root idea: both are linked to vidyā (knowledge/power). ( jainpedia.org)
- Not the same tradition: Daśa Mahāvidyā is primarily a Hindu Tantric concept, while the 16 Vidyādevīs belong to Jain deities. ( jainpedia.org)
- Possible loose overlap in terminology: some Jain sources use the word mahāvidyā for the 16 Vidyādevīs, but that does not mean they are identical to the Hindu Daśa Mahāvidyā. ( jainpedia.org)
In short: there is no direct doctrinal identity between daśa-mahāvidyā and the 16 Vidyādevīs; the connection is only linguistic and partly historical/cultural.